


Hanami

by Eastling (Annwyd)



Category: Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms, Fate/stay night (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Post-Canon, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 02:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8383504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Annwyd/pseuds/Eastling
Summary: "The boy's new body is still weak and clumsy, and there is so much that hasn't been resolved, but when spring comes, he goes with the girl he loves to see the cherry blossoms."
Shirou keeps a small promise, in the end.





	

The boy's new body is still weak and clumsy, and there is so much that hasn't been resolved, but when spring comes, he goes with the girl he loves to see the cherry blossoms.

Neither his endurance nor his dexterity is what it was in this incomplete vessel of a body. He knows that at some point they'll have to look into getting him a better one, but he isn't concerned about that right now. He's just worrying a little bit about how he's going to reach a good spot for viewing the cherry trees like this.

They're halfway up the hill when he misses his footing and stumbles; he starts to skid back down the grassy slope. That's when Sakura reaches out a hand and grabs his arm.

"Senpai," she says with a scolding look, "you can't push yourself anymore. You know we've all forbidden it already, so please stop."

"Sorry, Sakura," Shirou says. "I'm absent-minded sometimes, so I keep forgetting."

She gives a sigh. "And you know that's not true, either. You're just very stubborn. Senpai, please…"

He looks at her quietly for a moment, and then he says, "All right, Sakura. Hey, would you mind if I lean on your shoulder a bit while we go the rest of the way? This path is tricky."

Her face breaks into a smile as warm and gentle as the mild spring sun far above them. There have been more of those smiles lately, although they often still seem fragile. This time, though, there's nothing hesitant about Sakura when she says, "I wouldn't mind a bit."

❀ ❀ ❀

They lie down on the grass beneath the branches of the tree together. It's a little romantic, but Shirou is also tired. He can feel the faint dampness of the ground beneath his back through his shirt, but it's not too cold, so he doesn't mind. It's not a bad feeling to lie here in the morning sunlight.

He thinks about things like that more often now. "Sakura," he asks, "is this what you wanted?"

She's still evasive sometimes, so she says, "I'm not sure what you're asking, senpai." She also likes to tease him a bit, so she adds, "It's a very simple date, but I think that's okay."

"I'm not asking about the qualities of a date," he says. It sounds a little like he's scolding her at first, so he amends, "Well, I wouldn't know that much about those anyway, to be totally honest."

"I don't either," she confesses. "You're my teacher when it comes to cooking, and I can be your teacher when it comes to magecraft, but we'll need to learn from each other when it comes to romance." She hesitates, then adds, more boldly than usual, because she's been learning many things: "Senpai, I don't want you learning from anyone else."

"That's good," he says, "because I can do that for you." He's not completely sure he won't have to ask Rider or Tohsaka a discreet question from time to time, but he'll figure out how to deal with that when it happens. That's the only way he knows how to live his life anymore: one step at a time, here and there a stumble, with nothing to guide him but his own eyes and feet and gut instinct.

Sakura places her hand over his atop the grass. He remembers he has some other guides as well.

❀ ❀ ❀

The delicate warmth and the scent of the grass and the cherry blossoms lulls him into a light doze. He doesn't wake when a pale pink petal drifts down to land on his nose, but he does wake when Sakura, leaning over him, giggles at the sight of it.

"I feel like I just got laughed at," he complains.

"I'm not sure how you got that impression, senpai," she says, smiling in that too-bright way.

He knows what lies behind that cheerful light now, so he retorts, "I bet it was because you were laughing at me. That's how."

She plucks the petal from his face and kisses him.

"Is this what you wanted, Sakura?" he asks her again when she pulls away.

This time, she answers him honestly. "Yes," she says. She looks down at the little pink petal in her fingers. "It's definitely what I wanted months ago. I had a dream of getting to see the cherry blossoms in spring with the boy I loved, and now it's really happening."

"That's great," Shirou says, "because I had a dream of getting to keep a promise to the girl I loved, and now—wait a minute."

"Is something wrong, senpai?" She looks perfectly innocent, so much so that he knows she isn't.

"You said it's what you wanted months ago," he says. "What about now, Sakura?"

"Oh, well," she says. "That's complicated."

He pushes himself up on his elbows into a sitting position. "Sakura?" He reaches out to take hold of one of her hands again.

"For a long time," she says, lifting the cherry blossom petal before her like a talisman, "I had this one small dream. But right now—" She looks up at the tree spreading its blossoms above them. "There are many things I want from life, senpai. I want to get new gifts from my sister and try to cook more meals with her. I want to go walking through town with Rider at my side. And I want to come back here next year with you." She smiles and rubs at her eyes with her free hand. "Actually, these days it's like I have as many petty little wishes as this tree has flowers. It's a little overwhelming sometimes."

Shirou watches her face, shadowed in the dappled light coming down through the branches and blossoms above. He's heard a lot of fanciful old stories about where the cherry blossoms she's talking about come from and what they mean, and he's pretty sure Sakura has heard them too. People usually die in those stories.

He says, "Don't get too overwhelmed, Sakura. I'll make your dreams come true whenever you need it to happen."

She laughs again. "Senpai, that's a really cliched line! But you look handsome when you say it, so I don't mind."

He finds himself blushing as he leans on her shoulder. "Jeez, what a way to make fun of your boyfriend...are you saying I'm too romantic?"

"That's not it at all," she says, and then she stops. She makes a strange face.

"Sakura?" He straightens up a bit, alarmed. "Is something wrong?"

"Senpai," she says, "we forgot to bring lunch."

❀ ❀ ❀

Next year, they'll remember to bring lunch.

For now, they lie together in imperfect quiet, a little hungry, but often smiling.


End file.
